


Feel The Love

by impersonal_villain



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Author Is Not Religious, Catholic Nicky Hemmick, Catholicism, EXTREMELY BRIEFLY MENTIONED!!, Islam, Jewish Neil Josten, Judaism, Muslim Andrew Minyard, Pandemic - Freeform, Past Child Abuse, Prayer, Religion, Shabbat | Sabbath | Sabt, well author is extremely jewish and extremely atheist so make of that what you will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:40:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26182063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impersonal_villain/pseuds/impersonal_villain
Summary: Friday night at the Columbia House. Classes are remote. Neil, Nicky, and Andrew make their own religious rituals.A short fic about religious coexistence.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Feel The Love

Nicky looked up from the textbook he'd been reading, slouching over his desk on both elbows. He wouldn't have realized so much time had passed if it weren't for the prayer candle he'd lit to the Virgen de Guadalupe. The wick had burned down much farther than he'd meant to let it. Nicky had said a prayer for Erik before he began going over the assigned reading. Well, Erik would get a little extra loving from Nuestra Señora. The whole candle. 

Nicky had planned to pray to Mary for forgiveness to his mother and father tomorrow, and now there wasn't a great amount of candle left. He might as well let the candle finish burning naturally now. Luther would slap him if he knew Nicky usually blew out the candle halfway through to save for a second prayer. But Nicky didn't like to include his parents in the same prayer with Erik, or his parents and his cousins. Or his cousins and Erik, come to think of it. Nicky was also a college athlete without a job. So he reused his prayer candles. 

The sun was starting to set. The sun in Columbia was beautiful. 

When Nicky had bought the house in Columbia, he'd never imagined himself reading textbooks inside it. But school was back on, although virtual, and to Nicky's slight dismay, Wymack had successfully argued for the retention of their scholarships although the Exy season was off. Allison sold some bags she dug out of the back of her closet and three pairs of capital-D-Designer jeans. Now she venmoed the whole team grocery money each month. So far, it had been enough. 

The Fall syllabi for every class required you keep your camera on for participation purposes. There was no practice at the end of a long day, which Nicky was grateful for at first and then came to miss almost more than Erik. He'd never wanted to chase a ball so badly in his life. Class. No practice. 

Andrew was thrilled, or as thrilled as Nicky had ever seen him. Neil was miserable. Nicky had taken a photo of Neil at the computer one day during a Math class where the professor had realized 50 minutes into a lecture that he'd had screen sharing off the entire class. Nicky had sent the picture to Allison, then ended up regretting it when she edited the pic of crying Neil over the news article of the crying kindergartener and sent it in the Foxes group chat. 

Neil went for runs most mornings, and almost every evening. Not tonight though, Nicky realized as he exchanged his textbook for his phone. Friday night. The candle flame died in a puddle of hot wax. Nicky pocketed his phone and headed out of his bedroom to play video games on the couch. 

Neil was rummaging around on the floor of the kitchen. He didn't greet Nicky and Nicky didn't disturb him, just plopped on the couch and reached for the remote. The auto-saved game level picked up mid-alien invasion. Nicky pounded on the X key to fire his blaster at the descending spaceships. 

A few minutes later, Nicky heard Neil murmuring to himself in the kitchen. Nicky's bilingual ear could pick up even the whispers of a foreign language. Furthermore, as a Mexican Catholic, he recognized the sound of words heavy with prayerful intent. Nicky paused his game (aliens could wait for God) and set the remote on the couch cushion next to him. He picked up the paperback Quran that Andrew had left on the coffee table. 

Nicky chose a post-it marking at random and opened to it. The text inside was highlighted and annotated in Andrew's squarely slanted sprawl. Nicky pulled it closer to his eyes.

At the counter, Neil raised up the Kiddush cup. "Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’ratza vanu, v’shabbat kod’sho b’ahava uv’ratzon hinchilanu, zikaron l’ma’aseh b’reishit." 

Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has sanctified us with his commandments and favored us, and given us in love and favor his holy Shabbat as an inheritance, as a remembrance of the act of creation.

Nicky rested his elbow on the end of the couch and leaned over the Quran in his lap while Neil continued in Hebrew. Andrew's annotations were poetic and well-meaning. Who would have thought his scariest cousin would have such excellent ideas. God's love is so powerful. Nicky turned to the next page. Neil tore into the Challah, started to bring the first rip of soft honey-warm bread to his lips but stopped. He walked around the counter and gave it to Nicky instead. 

"Amen," said Nicky, in thanks to Neil and in thanks to the Lord. 

"Amen," Neil agreed. They both bit into their bread.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed, and check out some of my other aftg fics :-) Hope you enjoyed regardless of your religious beliefs!


End file.
